Editorial: Maybe for lawmakers, it's In pandering we trust'

You would think that Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives has its hands full with school-related issues.

It has the whole “Common Core Curriculum” kerfuffle to sort through.

We have schools that are failing educationally and financially.There are issues surrounding charter schools ranging from funding to educational accountability. And, of course, there’s the underlying issue of funding for public schools.

For too long we have relied upon property taxes, a system that badly needs reforms that our lawmakers seem unable or unwilling to enact.

Those thorny education problems ought to keep representatives — particularly members of the House Education Committee — pretty darned busy.

But politicians, it seems, are never too busy to engage in a little grandstanding.

And grandstanding is really the only way to describe pending legislation that would require public schools to display “In God We Trust” on a plaque or in student artwork or, well, somewhere in the building.

A bill proposed by Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny — and cosponsored by local GOP Reps. Will Tallman, Stan Saylor and Seth Grove — recently passed out of the House Education Committee.

The bill would require schools to display those words — though it doesn’t specify any enforcement mechanisms.

In fact, the innocuousness of the motto is in part how it has passed constitutional muster all these years.

Like the “under God” phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance, courts have suggested that “In God We Trust” on our coinage has become so innocuous and ceremonial that it carries no religious significance — and thus doesn’t violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

In other words, because no one pays much attention to such religious phrases, they’re OK to be on our coins and in our pledge.

Well, hey, there’s a great argument for why “In God We Trust” must be displayed for students: So the kids can just ignore it.

Just like they mindlessly repeat the Pledge of Allegiance — an exercise that requires little thought and thus quickly fades to meaninglessness.

Don’t our well-paid and well-perked lawmakers have more pressing things to do?

No. Apparently, there’s always time for some religio-politico grandstanding.

Such pandering has a long history.

Consider: Congress debated putting God on our coinage in the midst of the Civil War. That was a time when you’d think lawmakers would’ve had much more pressing issues than mottos — though some have suggested the political and symbolic motivation was to assert that God was on the side of the Union.

Rep. Saccone has written that displaying the motto in schools would provide a state history lesson to students because “it was a Pennsylvanian, James Pollock, the 13th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who was responsible for suggesting the installation of these words on our coins during his term as Director of the United States Mint.”

Interesting historical factoid.

Here’s another:

The phrase was reportedly used as a battle cry by the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry at Antietam.

Congress has fussed and debated various issues involving the motto and coinage repeatedly over the centuries — right up until 1956 during the Cold War when it was made the national motto to separate America from atheistic communism.

Well OK, if requiring schools to display the motto leads students to delve deeper into U.S. history, that would be a positive result of such politicking.

But something tells us this isn’t really aimed at students — some of whom couldn’t tell you who is buried in Grant’s tomb and really don’t care.

It’s aimed at voters — who next year get to decide who’s trustworthy to sit in the state Capitol.